Beau Beau Brat Face

Judges 2:19 "................they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way."

This is a story of the stubbornest dog I have ever owned. Is he really a dog?  sometimes I wonder.  It all started in December of 2011 after the untimely death of my beautiful cat Pokey, who died in her sleep earlier in December.   After several weeks had passed, I began to search for a puppy to fill the empty void and found what seemed to be the perfect puppy at a Shih Tzu breeder in a town north of us.  When we went to pick him up, at first sight I knew in my heart he wasn't the dog for me but I had talked the breeder to lowering the price and she was expected me to take him so I felt as though I had no choice.  So home he came:

Right away people told us he looked like an ET or a gremlin.  As he grew they said he looks like "Chewy".  Husband said he was the ugliest dog in the history of the world.  He was dark chocolate brown with a pink nose and pink lips, but that was soon to change.  His color lightened to what is called "liver" and his nose and lips darkened.  He has stayed small, now about 10 lbs.



As Beau (the name the breeder had given him but we soon called him Beau Beau Brat Face) got a little older, it became obvious how stubborn he was going to be.  Is this a personality trait of Shih Tzu's?  oh if I had only known.  When he was a puppy he would not eat unless I hand fed him which progressed to me sitting on the floor beside him while he ate out of a bowl.  Lately I have been standing not far away.  The most annoying thing is that he has a very loud bark and uses it when he wants to eat until I accompany him to the kitchen.  We have gone through 4 groomers before finding one that he likes and who likes him.

He does not do well with normal dog toys, anything squeeky is jumped on until the squeaker is broken, this usually only takes a couple of days so we don't buy him those kind of toys anymore.  He likes rope chews, a deer antler, and an old piece of pyjama bottoms.

As you can see from his expression, no one had better mess with him when he has his rope chew although I make it a habit to take it away no matter how much he complains.  After all, who is the boss?  he loves to fetch it when tossed but is not so good at bringing it back to the person throwing it.

All I ask of Beau is that he does his bathroom things when I take him out and lately he does a few circles and then stares at me as if to say "are you kidding or what?"  lately also,  I have been trying to get him to eat on his own but he refuses and I panic thinking that he will starve himself to death.

Grooming him is a lot of work but I don't mind that part of it.  I clip his face, his feet and his toenails.  I have to express his anal glands every other week because he has a problem releasing the fluid on his own but apparently that is a problem with some small dogs.  One month he goes for a bath and alternate months he has an all-over clip as well. 

Beau is by far not the first dog I have owned.  But he is the first dog that I have not obedience trained.  He does not seem like a dog but a toddler in a dog costume.  I sure hope things change because sometimes he makes me feel like I am losing my mind..  don't let the innocent look in the photo below fool you.

I realize that this is not a post about being a Christian, but this blog is about sunlight and shadows, peaks and valleys, and right now Beau is a shadow part of my life, sad to say.  On a positive note, he is a very good traveler in a car, is great with adults and children.. is afraid of big dogs, but likes little ones, at least some of them. 

So this is probably the only post I will be making about Beau but somehow after the day this has been, it has been cathartic.